This thought-provoking examination of the most influential and popular accounts of polar exploration--from Viking settlers and Renaissance conquerors to expeditions led by such famous explorers as Ernest Shackleton, Richard Byrd, and Roald Amundsen--emphasizes themes of endurance, greed, obsession, and self-sacrifice in tales that have captured the popular imagination for centuries. The stories that consider the life-threatening risks of polar exploration, the enduring appeal of romanticized frozen landscapes, and issues of national identity that are linked with exploration, also include descriptions of indigenous communities, forgotten stories of women at the poles, Robert Falcon Scott's meticulous account of his own dying, and purely imaginary approaches to polar travel such as "Frankenstein" and "Winnie the Pooh."